Home Improvement: Programmable Thermostat

Last Saturday, I installed my new programmable thermostat!!

The directions were VERY detailed, and broke it into steps Roger could have followed. It was a bigger project than I realized, due mainly not to the actual installation, but what had been installed in the past.

The footprint of the new one is TOTALLY different from the footprint of the old one, which is again different than the one before that! The result is screw holes that needed to be filled, and a lovely paint line that needs to be sanded and repainted.

Luckily, I'm a girl who believes in having the right tool for every job, so I actually had a tube of spackle in my toolbox. Pink spackle, no less. So with little fuss, I was able to patch the holes and continue on with the project at hand. (The sanding/painting are for another day)

I picked a location that covered as much of the old mess as possible, and screwed it to the wall. The new thermostat came with little stickers to label the correct post of each wire for reattachment, and it was relatively easy to attach them.

And that was it! I put in the batteries, popped the facepiece on, and programmed the times and temperatures.

Mon-Fri get a separate schedule from Sat/Sun, and there are four dayparts: morning, day, evening, and night. Since my weekday schedule is pretty locked down thanks to the Little Sir, it was no problem to program. However, weekends are not so easy. On Saturdays I'll usually be at the mountain, but Sundays I'll be home. I think what I'll do is set it to my Saturday schedule, and then "override" the programming on Sundays.

A very worthwhile investment, and an interesting home improvement project!